Background:Not until 1993, 35 years after independence from France, did Niger hold its first free and open elections. A 1995 peace accord ended a five-year Tuareg insurgency in the north. Coups in 1996 and 1999 were followed by the creation of a National Reconciliation Council that effected a transition to civilian rule by December 1999
Location: Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara
Geographic coordinates:16 00 N, 8 00 E
Area:1.267 million sq km
Coastline:0 km (landlocked)
Climate:desert; mostly hot, dry, dusty; tropical in extreme south
Population:11,360,538(July 2004 est.)
Ethnic groups:Hausa 56%, Djerma 22%, Fula 8.5%, Tuareg 8%, Beri Beri (Kanouri) 4.3%, Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche 1.2%, about 1,200 French expatriate
Languages:French (official), Hausa, Djerma
Economy:Niger is a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, reexport trade, and increasingly less on uranium, because of declining world demand. The government relies on bilateral and multilateral aid - which was suspended following the April 1999 coup d'etat - for operating expenses and public investment. In 2000-01, the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of $105 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation.
Conventional long form:Republic of Niger
Government type:republic
Capital:Niamey
Administrative divisions:7 departments (departements, singular - departement) and 1 capital district* (capitale district); Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey*, Tahoua, Tillaberi, Zinder
Independence: 3 August 1960 (from France)
Legal system:based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Religion:Muslim 80%, remainder indigenous beliefs and Christian
Natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, petroleum
